When Ryan Murphy divulged information on the planned election theme for American Horror Story’s seventh season, I’m sure a lot of people were intrigued by the bold decision to cover recent, real world horror. Much of the show’s previous concerns have been with past horrors and a general fantastical approach to exploring them. When speaking at the Publicists Guild Awards Luncheon, AHS creator Ryan Murphy expanded on his election idea:
“The themes of American Horror Story have always been allegories. You will not see Trump and Clinton as characters on the show. […] What I’m interested in doing is not just the obvious, single-minded point of view but rather express all sides of that equation. What needs to happen in our country now is for people to listen to each other – we may not always agree with each other and we may be horrified by what the other side is doing but we have to move toward understanding. […] All of the stuff that I’m developing now is going to be about illuminating and highlighting people who don’t have a voice in our culture — people who are ignored by the current administration and who are afraid and feel terrorised that their lives are going to be taken away. I’m interested not just in writing about those people, but also in using my financial means to give back to them as well.”
A horrifying reality is just waiting for Murphy and co. to take advantage of and it’s fascinating and promising to see them tackling a theme that is timely, controversial and should garner a lot of attention. We’re glad it’s not going to be so blunt as to feature Clinton and Trump characters and the idea to give a voice to the outspoken is an excellent use of AHS’s popularity.
I haven’t watched AHS since season 3, but I may have to tune back in for this one.
American Horror Story season 7 should return in October with returning actors Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters. The series begins filming in June, so keep yours peeled for more cast announcements and specific plot details.
Words: Jessy Williams (@JessyCritical)
